


Two-Fold

by CaffeineAddict94



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Relationship, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Heavy Drinking, Light Angst, M/M, Music, Musicians, Psychological Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-01-15 15:40:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18501979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaffeineAddict94/pseuds/CaffeineAddict94
Summary: Heavy metal blared from invisible speakers while Sal Fisher sat, numb and sweating, in a cracked leather armchair.AU. Another drabble that could potentially turn into more in the future.





	1. Chapter 1

**Two-fold**

Heavy metal blared from invisible speakers while Sal Fisher sat, numb and sweating, in a cracked leather armchair. There was a set of stairs set against the left wall, leading up to darkness that - in his drunken state - seemed an alternate universe. He’d been told by the home owner, Mitch or Mike or Matt, that there was a bathroom up there but he hadn’t gone up to see for himself. He hadn’t ventured from the spacious living room, content with listening to the light murmuring of voices in-between teeth rattling guitar solos.

“Need another drink?”

The hand at his head belonged to Larry, who seemed a giant as he loomed over him. The sight of his familiar form filled Sal with a swell of happiness that threatened to send tears spilling from his eyes. This was why he never got drunk; he got way too emotional. Oblivious to his thoughts and his current state of inebriation, Larry gathered his empty red plastic cup. He let his eyes fall shut as Larry’s fingers slid through his hair, finally coming to rest at the nape of his neck.

“What time is it?”, he muttered, the words coming out a slurred and jumbled mess.

“The night is young”, Larry whispered cryptically before he tapped him on the shoulder, “Come on, up and at ‘em”.

“No”, he groaned feebly as Larry easily hefted him to his feet, “Why?”

“You can’t sit in here forever. There’s a big, wide world out there”.

Sal blinked as the room twisted and spun before him, needing a moment to make sure he wouldn’t take a step and immediately face plant. Larry took hold of his elbow to steady him, his strength a welcome comfort. At least Sal knew he wouldn’t be allowed to scatter like a leaf while the party surged on around him. Larry led him towards a small kitchen, the layout of the Philly duplex reminding him of Addison. He shook that thought aside before it could take root, remembering that he was supposed to be enjoying himself. It seemed an impossible feat but he was trying. There were three other people standing around, all of them too looking to be in their mid-twenties. The first person to take notice of his presence was Ashley, the smile on her face completely infectious.

Her auburn hair had started to get long again, the dark waves hanging well past her shoulder. She was still nursing her first beer of the night, her tolerance for alcohol much lower than most. 

“There you are!”, she sung, as if he’d been gone for weeks instead of an hour, “We were wondering if you’d fallen into the couch”.

“Yeah, I found Narnia”, he jerked his thumb towards Larry, who was already filling his cup with whatever mystery concoction was sitting in the pitcher on the counter, “Blame him”.

Larry laughed lightly as he slid the cup in his hands. He took a hearty swig, letting the warmth spread through to his fingertips. It’d been a long time since he’d been able to relax and he needed all the assistance he could get.

“Hey, you only drop your first album once”, Larry countered, “Might as well go big”.

Sal leaned back against the counter as he thought about what that’d mean for them. Larry was a kickass drummer and he’d just so happened to stumble upon a band that needed one - badly. It turned out to be a match made in heaven because Terminal God started booking at venues all over the city. Sal was ever Larry’s biggest supporter, the one face in the crowd who’d been there from the start. Still, he couldn’t help the nerves that tangled his stomach at the mere mention of greater success. Even now, his hands shook violently as he wondered how many copies the album would sell. Would they move on to a major label? What then? _Hollywood_? It was enough to make his head spin.

“I don’t feel so good”, he whispered, raising a hand to his face. Even with his prosthetic firmly in place, it was like he could still feel the heat radiating underneath.

Ashley looked on in concern before gingerly slipping the cup from his fingers, “Do you need to lie down?”

“No, I…I think I’m…”

A wave of nausea hit him then, sending him reeling. Larry took hold of his shoulders before leading him towards the stairs he’d been staring at earlier. The pulsing music faded to a low thump as Larry helped him up the steps. Darkness slowly pressed in on them and panic seized his chest, forcing him to stop once he reached the landing.

“It’s okay”.

He focused on the warmth of Larry’s palm as he gripped his hand. They walked a few feet forward before Larry pushed open a door and they were bathed in warm light. Sal squinted against the pale yellow walls of the bathroom, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the sudden shift. Larry carefully loosed the straps of his mask before he slipped it over his head and placed it on the edge of the sink. Sal tended to avoid mirrors, not needing the stark reminder of one of the worst days of his life. Tonight, he found himself taking a closer look.

He cared less about the deep scars running across his face and more about the clamminess of his skin. It was safe to say he was way past his limit. His stomach hitched again and he stumbled towards the toilet, gripping the sides of the bowl like a porcelain life preserver. Thankfully, the feeling subsided once more.

“I’m sorry”, Larry apologized before he sank down next to him, leaning his head back against the wall, “You’ve been so tense lately, I just wanted you to loosen up”.

“S’okay”, he mumbled, “I miss this”.

“Miss what?”

He gestured weakly to nothing in particular, “This. Us. I dunno”.

Their relationship was difficult to put into words. He’d never felt such a closeness to someone before, especially not so suddenly. When he’d first met Larry, it was like they’d known each other for years. The bond only grew, strengthening more over time. He wasn’t sure exactly when or how their friendship became something more romantic but neither of them questioned it. The new dynamic was no different than before. But then came the band, the press. Changes…

“You think I’m gonna leave you”.

“No”, he lied, keeping his gaze trained on the blue tiled floor.

All the air seemed to be sucked from the room, leaving only pressing tension. Larry had good reason to pack up and leave him behind. It didn’t matter how many years had passed, the nightmares persisted. He had days that he couldn’t get out of bed, moments where the thought of leaving the apartment made him physically ill. He was a lot to handle and Larry had to be growing tired. Even patience had its limits. How long would they have to do this song and dance? Was the therapy even helping? Would he ever get better?

“Sal…”

There was a persistent ache behind his eyes, a thrumming against his skull. It would get worse; it always got worse. The alcohol probably didn’t help. He willed the pain to go away but it built, increasing in intensity. Why now? It was difficult to move and so he tried to stay as still as possible, blinking back the shadowy figures he knew weren’t really there. He could hear Larry talking but he was miles away, too far to save him. Sal let his eyes fall shut as blackness enveloped him completely. The last thing he remembered was the sensation of falling.

* * *

Early morning chill hung in the air as Larry padded his way through the apartment, the coolness of the wooden floors against his bare feet. A fall sun filtered in through the dusty windows, bathing the small space in golden light. He had a cup of orange juice in one hand and a plate of toast in the other which he made a conscious effort not to drop as he nudged the bedroom door open with his elbow.

“Mm”

The lump of covers stirred at the noise, a tangle of long blue hair the only part of Sal's body that was visible. Larry carefully set the simple breakfast on the nightstand before he peeled back the heavy comforter. Sal was curled up underneath and he blinked back at him, eyes still half-lidded with sleep.

“Good morning”

Recognition dawned on Sal’s face before he tossed back the covers and sat up. He stared at the sky outside their window while Larry watched on with a discerning eye. Sal always scared the shit out of him when he blanked out...which seemed to happen a lot more these days. One minute, he’d be fine. The next, he’d be standing there - lost in a place Larry had no hope of reaching. Sometimes, he’d actually pass out like last night. Larry was glad that he’d been close enough to stop him from hitting his head on the edge of the tub. Having to carry him out of the party meant dodging a million and one questions from his bandmates and concerned strangers alike. Only Ash understood. He made a mental note to call her later; she’d want to know how Sal was holding up.

Sal let out a soft sigh, “I’m sorry”.

“No, I’m sorry. The party was a bad idea”.

Sal had been in bad spirits for the past few weeks, the anniversary of the Addison Apartment fire looming ever closer. He blamed himself for the inferno that ravaged the building and took the lives of their friends, their family. Nobody believed them when they mentioned the cult, certainly not the ghosts. To the public, the fire was the result of faulty wiring on the unfinished fifth floor and nothing else. It was a tragedy to the whole town of Nockfell but none more than Sal.

He thought the party would be a way for them to move forward. He didn’t want to forget the past but he couldn’t let it shackle him anymore. He was tired of agonizing over what they’d done, what they hadn’t done, how things could’ve gone differently. His mom was dead, no amount of wishing and praying would bring her back. Call him cynical but all that ghost hunting bullshit had done was destroy any semblance of normalcy he’d had. Maybe if the two of them had kept to themselves, stopped poking around in shit that wasn’t their business. If he hadn’t started it all…

“You never finished what you were going to say”.

Sal was leaning back against a pillow, his eyes trained on the ceiling. Larry didn’t have to ask what he meant; he’d been thinking about it since last night. It was crazy to him that Sal could think he’d want to abandon him. Despite all the bad, the two of them had something most people could only dream of. He was hesitant to call it fate but there had to be a reason they worked so well together. He took his hand, turning it over in his.

“I was going to say, ‘Sal, I fucking love you and nothing in the world would make me leave’. Or something like that”.

“…I feel selfish for wanting you to stay. There’s nothing for you here”.

“So, I’ll take you with me”, he trailed his thumb over his bottom lip, smiling as a shudder rained through him, “Problem solved”.

“I don’t know”, Sal murmured as he let his fingers slide over his jaw, bringing his face forward, “I feel stuck here. Like…I’m supposed to stay”.

He leaned in to kiss him, the moment lingering in a dance of tongues and heated longing. He trailed his lips across his jaw, down to his collarbone. The low groan that escaped Sal's lips spurred Larry further as he slid his hand under his thin t-shirt.

“Okay, we can stay here”, he sighed breathlessly as Sal’s hand found its way to the waistband of his sweatpants, “We can do whatever you want”.

He didn’t care whether they stayed in Nockfell, moved to Phoenix, lived on the fucking moon. All that mattered was having him close, this close, always.

He bit back a sigh as Sal’s trembling fingers closed around his erection. Sal’s breath tickled his cheek like the warm caress of a summer breeze. He groaned despite himself as Sal worked him under the covers. When Sal kissed him again, he could feel the smile on his lips.

“Lay down”.

Sal was never forceful and his quiet voice carried an air of uncertainty that Larry found endearing. He happily obliged, lying back against the worn mattress so Sal could wrestle him out of his pants. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d done this. They were both caught up in fantasyland sometimes, unable to get out of their own heads for long enough to notice what was actually going on around them. It was a blessing when it came to creative pursuit, a curse when it came to everything else. He let out a sharp gasp as Sal trailed his tongue along the length of him and a shudder of pleasure rained through him. It was a good thing Todd and Neil weren’t home.

It took him a second to register the warmth at his thigh before he noticed the horror on Sal’s face.

“Fuck”.

He had a hand clamped over his face and Larry sat up to see fat drops of blood staining both him and the bed. Larry reached over to pry Sal’s hand away from his nose, the sight confirming what he’d already suspected. He wiped some of the blood away with his thumb before he leaned across the bed and grabbed a tissue from the box on the nightstand.

Sal quickly took it from his outstretched hand, using it to clean most of the mess. He looked away from him, embarrassment sending a flush of crimson down his neck.

“It’s not so bad this time”, Larry offered, trying to ease his worries, “You should probably eat anyway. I brought you some toast”.

The food had been sitting untouched this whole time but Sal hadn’t noticed it. He reached for the orange juice, taking a tentative sip before he frowned.

“…I really screwed up our weekend, huh?”

Larry lightly kissed his forehead before he climbed out of bed. He meant what he said; he was with him until the end.

“It’s not over yet”.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m taking some creative liberties because I just really love the paranormal. 

**Two**

“Damn it. Still not right”.

Ashley fiddled with the settings on her Nikon in an attempt to get a decent shot. Photography was a natural progression once she started taking an interest in urban exploration but it turned out the learning curve was pretty steep. She could bang out an oil painting, no problem, but she wasn’t the most tech-savvy person in the world. She let out a grumble of frustration before she shut off the camera, abandoning her efforts to memorialize the dilapidated room. Maybe it was better this way; she’d seen it, the photo wasn’t totally necessary. She was heading towards the backdoor she’d jimmied open when her cellphone started to ring.

She wasn’t worried about alerting anyone to her presence; the good thing about the abandoned places in Nockfell was that nobody kept an eye on them - police included. She fished her phone out of the pocket of her leather jacket and quickly answered.

“Hello?”

“Sorry for freaking you out last night”.

Larry’s low voice was enough to make her forget all about her camera troubles, “You don’t have to apologize. Is Sal okay?”

“For now, yeah. He had another episode. Nose bleed too”.

That was a bad sign. Sal had periods where he’d be okay, long stretches of time that made all of them forget that there was something dark living inside of him. But when those times were over, it was like a living nightmare. He had no idea what happened when he blacked out but they’d all seen it firsthand. It was like he was another person, mumbling about places they’d never heard of and people they’d never seen. She knew it had everything to do with Addison and the fire but, so far, Sal wouldn’t talk. He was in therapy but that didn’t seem to be going anywhere. He was the only one there when it happened. He was the only one who survived.

“Did he…say anything?”

“Not this time. I’ve been feeling kinda weird too”, he let out a heavy sigh, “I don’t want to tell him”.

“Weird how?”

“…I’ve been having the nightmares again. About-“

“The red-eyed demon”.

Saying it out loud, especially standing in the middle of a long abandoned house, made her skin crawl. She’d never seen the demon herself but she’d seen the effect it had on her friends. Larry had been at Addison the longest, he’d lived with monsters before any of them knew they existed. He didn’t talk about the bad times, for Sal’s sake, and she worried about how that was effecting his mental state. He was still the same laidback guy she’d always known, funny and carefree, but she wondered how much of it was an act.

“…Yeah…and my dad. My mom sometimes too. I don’t know, it’s all so fucked”, she could hear the radio in the background, playing a song she recognized from middle school, “I think something bad’s going to happen”.

“Stop that”, she warned, “Nothing bad is going to happen. You’re going to sell a million CDs and go on a world tour and make lots of money and hopefully you won’t forget about us when you’ve got tons of groupies and your videos are playing on MTV”.

He laughed but it sounded hollow and empty, “…You remember those tapes we found?”

She could still hear the blood-curdling screams but the noise paled in comparison to the images on the screen. As old and distorted as the VHS tapes were, there was no mistaking the gruesome torture taking place. It was one thing to see someone get disembowled in a horror movie, all those buckets of fake blood and cheesy music reminding you it was staged. It was another to watch it without filters - raw and real. Larry had puked immediately but she’d been transfixed, horrified but unable to tear her gaze away. It’d kept her awake for weeks on end, scarring her so badly that she couldn’t even sit with the lights off. And that was only the first tape.

“We swore never to talk about that, Larry”.

“What if they were real, Ash? We told ourselves they weren’t but…I know you wondered too”.

She didn’t want to think about it, _couldn’t_ think about it. Those walls had looked familiar, hadn’t they? And the hallways? No, no, no. It was just some fucked up movie that someone had forgotten about and they were two dumb teenagers with too much free time on their hands. They shouldn’t have been snooping around down in the basement but they’d learned their lesson. That was it.

“Larry-“

“What if…those tapes started something? Think about it. We watched them and then Sal moves in and he watches them-“

“Wait a minute”, she shook her head, sure she’d heard him wrong, “You let Sal watch them?”

The lengthy pause that followed confirmed her worst fears. They hadn’t said explicitly that they wouldn’t let anyone else see those videos but it seemed like an unspoken rule. Fake or not, those tapes were seriously messed up and nobody else needed to be subjected to that. If she’d had it her way, she would’ve destroyed them but Larry promised to hold onto them. She didn’t think he’d ever want to watch them again.

“I didn’t; he found them. I tried to tell him not to but you know Sal”.

“Whatever; it doesn’t matter. Those tapes are fake. Watching them was a bad idea but that’s all. They don’t hold some mystical powers. They’re just weird movies. Okay?”

She ignored the way her hands shook as she let herself out of the house, suddenly eager to be anywhere else. She focused on putting one foot in front of the other as she backtracked towards the street, desperate to be back amongst civilization. Why did he have to call and stir up all these old memories?

“And the cult?”

She inhaled sharply, “There was **no** cult. We looked at we didn’t find anything, remember? It was just some shit we made up so we had something to do”.

Nockfell wasn’t exactly a teenager’s paradise. It was a boring town where it almost always rained and the buildings were as old as time itself. If you wanted to have fun, you had to have a vivid imagination. She’d gotten swept up in the excitement of it and, yeah, she’d made up her own stories. It was cool to have your best friends live in an apartment complex full of demons, even better if there was some twisted cult behind it all. Anything to distract her from living with her flake of a dad.

“You don’t believe that”.

“We were kids, Larry. We did some fucked up stuff but we were kids and, now, we aren’t anymore. Sal lived through something terrible and he needs us to help him through it. Not for you to go feeding him ghost stories”.

Maybe it was a harsh but she didn’t want to go down this road anymore. She’d spent the past few years trying to get her life back on track. She’d enrolled herself in art school, moved to a new city. She didn’t need the reminder of how shitty her life had been. They’d all been dealt a bad hand in life but they’d come together to create their own makeshift family. They were doing well, really well. All they needed to do was keep up the momentum.

“Right, you’re right. I’m just…stressed out”.

“It’s okay. Should I still come over later?”

“Of course; it's Friday. See you soon”.

She hung up and continued up the street, making her way back to her childhood home. Hopefully talking to Ben would help clear her head.

* * *

Mired in the haze of weed smoke and bad memories, Larry found it hard to heed Ashley’s advice.

He was splayed out on the sofa, paranoid still despite several hits from his bong. He could usually always rely on self-medication to calm his fractured nerves but not today. Ever since this morning, he’d been unable to shake the dread. It started out because of Sal, who he constantly fretted over despite the smaller man’s complaints. He’d been in bed all day battling a migraine…or so he said. Larry had the sneaking suspicion it was a mix of embarrassment and fear that kept him huddled under the covers.

Whenever he thought about Sal, it was inevitable that his thoughts turned to Addison. He’d been at his worst there, a kid who was lost and searching for meaning. He’d found it in Ashley, later in Sal and Todd. It felt good to have friends who cared for him, who didn’t look at him like he was some freak. They tried to support each other but how could one broken person fix another? Ashley was right; they’d done some bad things, but never to other people. Only to themselves.

They purposely sought out the weirdest stuff they could find, things that made their own lives seem better by comparison. Crazy internet videos, B-grade horror movies, random books from the library. Discovering those tapes was the holy grail.

At first, it seemed like fun. Unlabeled tapes tossed inside a cardboard box; what was a better mystery than that? He wished they’d never watched them. They’d started off normally with only the faintest hint that something wasn’t right. He expected it to be a Blair Witch kinda deal, just some wannabe filmmakers with a story to tell. It didn’t take long to realize that wasn’t the case. He knew, deep down, that they’d awoken something that day. Whatever lived on those tapes was coming for them.

Ashley could try to pretend but she knew as well as he did that Addison wasn’t normal. Hadn’t they all wondered how Sal had made it out unscathed? He couldn’t remember anything about that night but, whatever happened, it couldn't have been good. So much for putting the past behind him.

He reached into his pocket for his cigarettes, fingers trembling as he quickly lit one up. If he didn’t stop thinking about it, he’d drive himself crazy.

“What’re you watching?”

Sal padded into the room, voice tinged with sleep. Larry shrugged as Sal made his way over and he barely flinched when Sal lied down, resting his head against his chest. He tried to shift his long legs to a more comfortable position but he eventually gave up, deciding that a little discomfort was worth it.

“I don’t know”, he turned back towards the TV, which was playing some random music video, “You feeling any better?”

“I guess. Are you?”

He let his fingers rain through Sal’s hair while he considered the best way to answer that question. Lying was easiest but Sal could always tell when he was bullshitting. He decided that he didn’t want to talk, at least not right now. He lightly kissed the top of his head before he reached for the remote and went to change the channel.

“Let’s see what else is on”.


End file.
